Hot Smoked Paprika

The spice that started it all! This is my absolute favorite spice and with so many amazing options I think it will be yours too!

Our Smoked Paprikas are grown and harvested in Spain.  Next to the growing field farmers have constructed small smokehouses with concrete floors and wooden grids several feet above the floor. Once the paprika chiles are harvested they are placed on the wooden grids above a fire. While the fire smolders, never flames, it smokes the chiles for 10-15 days.

The smoked dried peppers are removed from the smokehouse, stemmed and seeded and then milled by electrically powered stone wheels. These stone wheels turn very slowly as heat from friction degrades the flavor and color of the spice. The repeated grinding between stones is what results in its signature silky smooth texture. Our Hot Smoked Paprika is a Spanish Paprika that has been smoked the traditional way – without the short cuts often found in the larger commercial paprika productions. The end result is a deep, dark earthy red color with a touch of heat (about 500 – 1,000 on the Scoville Heat Units). Its characteristic dark red color spreads evenly throughout any dish.

Our Hot Smoked Paprika is complex, rich, and smoky with slightly pungent undertones. The difference between Smoked Paprika Hot (500 -1,000 SHU) and Smoked Paprika Sweet (100 – 250 SHU) is that the hot version is ground with the seeds of the chile pepper left in and the sweet version has the seeds removed prior to grinding. This is the secret ingredient in my  chowder seasoning!

Check out our Hungarian Paprika for a smooth subtle flavor or the mild version of this, Smoked Sweet Paprika.